Lady raped in Haldia heart

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Tamluk, Oct. 11: A homemaker was allegedly raped last night in the heart of Haldia town by three youths who dragged her into a bush where she had gone to relieve herself, in an uncanny replay of the assault on a bank manager’s wife in Durgapur last month.

The 20-year-old wife of a Haldia canteen employee had got off a bus on returning from her in-laws’ place along with her elder sister’s husband. She walked to some bushes along the road that leads to the port, about 2km away.

“The lady got down at Chiranjivpur bus stand around 9pm to return to her husband’s rented house, 1km away. She told her relative to wait and walked a few metres behind a roadside bush to relieve herself. Three unemployed youths smoking ganja gagged her with handkerchiefs and raped her,” a police officer said.

All three accused have been arrested.

One of the youths was caught by residents who rushed from nearby tea stalls. “The relative waited for 10 minutes and then started calling out to her.

He detected some movement from behind the bushes and saw the woman in torchlight. He then shouted for help,” the officer added.

The victim was admitted to Haldia subdivisional hospital, where the police registered a complaint this evening.

Medical tests have been conducted. “We will get the report in a day or two,” a doctor said.

The other two youths were arrested today from a friend’s house.

In September, a bank manager’s wife who got off her husband’s bike to relieve herself in Durgapur’s City Centre was raped by a group of youths, who also assaulted the husband.